Okay, so Wednesday I went out for a ride in what would prove to be the last of our nice weather for the week. With TransIowa looming in the distant horizon, I headed north from Ankeny in search of some gravel miles. In no time I was grinding along some fairly well worn gravel roads, exploring places I hadn’t ridden before, and most of all, fighting a brutal north wind. With the wind wearing me out and making me cold, plus the lack of many good east/west routes, I turned around after about 8 miles and decided to call it a day. I learned a few things on my ride. Mostly that I really need bigger tires, and better bar tape. 700×23 and well worn cork aren’t going to cut it for 50 miles, let alone 300+. The plan is to run 700×38 Crossroads Armadillo Elites, and some new tape with Bar Phat under. I also realized I was going to need a stronger upper body than I currently own.

With that, I resolved to hit the gym more. Having just joined the local Y, it’d be a breeze. Or so I thought. I haven’t lifted weights seriously in at least 8 years, and hardly at all in the last 3-4. Sure, I’ve done some minor strength training stuff, push ups, chin ups, etc, but not hitting the gym type weight lifting. I (predictably) over did it. I tried not to. I just got caught up trying to figure out exactly what lifts to do, and how much weight to use, and so on, that I ended up working a lot harder than I both thought and intened to. Resultantly, I’m still pretty sore today mostly in the biceps and shoulder areas. Despite lifting quite a bit with my legs, they feel pretty good, but then again they get a regular workout.
I guess that’s all for now, stay tuned for more training updates and gear ideas for TransIowa V3.